Neotamias dorsalis

Cliff Chipmunk

Cliff chipmunk fossils about 2,300 and 8,000 years old have been found in caves in Utah and Nevada. The chipmunks still live in those states, in habitats where sagebrush, fourwing saltbush, chokecherry, wild rose, and cliffrose grow. In other parts of their range, they are found with a wide variety of plants, and their diets include seeds and fruits from many kinds of grasses, shrubs, forbs, and trees. They also feed on insects, frogs, salamanders, snakes, birds, and eggs. Four other chipmunk species share parts of their range. Where one or more other species occurs on a mountain, the cliff chipmunk usually is found at the lowest elevation, but where none of the others occurs, cliff chipmunks range right to the top of the mountain.

References:

Baird, S.F., 1855. Characteristics of some new species of Mammalia, collected by the U.S. and Mexican Boundary Survey, Major W.H. Emory, U.S.A. Commissioner, p. 332. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 7:331-333.